Cheats for arcade game Chronos

It was released in 1987 and was a pretty standard left to right scrolling arcade game - but for a mere £1.99 you really couldn't go far wrong.

In fact, this game proved that there were actually some good budget Spectrum games available, some of which were of better quality than many full priced computer games.

It also contained a good dose of humour and hidden easter eggs, and a lot of fun could be had trying out different phrases in the high score table...

Chronos: A Tapestry Of Time on the ZX Spectrum

The eyes have it in Chronos on the ZX Spectrum...

Chronos Gained A Cult ZX Spectrum Following

This game picked up a bit of a cult following due to it's outstanding techno menu music (courtesy of the legendary Tim Follin which really pushed the Spectrum's single channel beeper to the max) which features in our roundup of ZX Spectrum music.

In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that the title music was actually AY Music - but rest assured it is single channel beeper hardware only!

Tim Follin really knew how to get the best out that particular piece of hardware.

But the main reason this arcade game is fondly remembered is due to it's quirky high score table, and hidden extras and easter eggs.

There were many phrases which could be entered into the table which would respond with humorous messages or activate a cheat code within the game.

If you remember any of them or want to know what they were, please read on...

Chronos Cheat Codes

Almost all ZX Spectrum Games (and most games on most retro computers) featured some sort of cheat code - and many games were POKE'd to death to give infinite lives, weapons power-ups, player invincibilty and more .

But Chronos (just like the legendary vector classic Dark Star from Design Design) allowed you to activate cheats from the high score table.

Once you've got the game up, play it and get the hang of it (you will find that it's actually quite good), then have some fun with the high score table.

Try typing in some of these words for starters...

nemesis

design design

peter gough

mike follin

tim follin

mark wilson

agent x

chronos

the thug

jing it baby

Apart from the above phrases you could also try some 'naughty' words if you feel so inclined.

Doing this was funny when I was fifteen anyway... ;-)

Many of the names in the list are famous Spectrum programmers (such as Tim Follin, Mike Follin and Peter Gough) and other words are the titles of classic shoot em up style games.

Enter these phrases and have some fun...

It's almost as good as the game itself!

Chronos: A Tapestry Of Time

Destroying the obstacles to make it through the tunnel in Chronos

Playable shoot em up action in Chronos

Chronos - It's a bit like Scramble only not quite as good. ZX Spectrum.

High score table humour in Chronos

It should be noted that many other games featured high score table shenanigans and humour.

Games from Design Design often had this built into their high score tables, and programmer Peter Gough was known for funny phrases in his games (such as the excellent budget titles Scumball and Gunstar) and high score tables too.

One game sticks in my memory for humour in the high score table: Dark Star (by Design Design) - one which we will have now covered in detail at Dark Star Cheat Codes.

A Tapestry of time scrolls by in Chronos...

The Extra Effort In Chronos

It was always a good thing when programmers had a little bit of fun with a game, and that little bit of extra effort definitely made a game more memorable.

This game would have been lost amongst the midst of other scrolling shmups on the Speccy if it wasn't for the humour that the developers included.

Anyone that ever played this game will always quote you with 'Jing It Baby' - it is just one of those things that sticks in your mind.

For that reason it stands out from the rest of the budget shoot em up crowd and for me is a real cult classic budget title.